Despite finally coming clean about "doping", and subsequently receiving a life-time ban from cycling, many still defend the 7-time Tour de France champion – Lance Armstrong.
The premise of their argument, is the belief that everyone else was "dipping" too – thus creating an even playing field.
Journalist Teddy Cutler of Sport Intelligence.com, recently wrote an in-depth article which made a detailed assessment of all the top cyclists from 1998 through 2013, and whether or not they have may have "doped".
During this 16-year period, 12 Tour de France races were won by cyclists who were confirmed "dopers". In addition, of the 81 different riders who finished in the top-10 of the Tour de France during this period, 65% have been caught doping, admitted to blood doping, or have strong associations to doping and are suspected cheaters.
The case for Armstrong is, during the 7-year period when he won every Tour de France (1999-2005), 87% of the top-10 finishers (61 of 70) were confirmed dopers or suspected of doping.
Of those, 48 (69%) were confirmed, with 39 having been suspended at some point in their career.
While many attribute Armstrong’s litany of denials, to include the mistreatment of others, as significant factors in his downfall, the statistics nevertheless indicate that he wasn’t alone when it came to "doping".
You can read the full article here:
http://www.sportingintelligence.com/2014/12/31/cycling-in-the-epo-era-65-per-cent-dirty-and-probably-more-311201/
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